To commemorate International Women’s Day 2009, the UNU joined with 15 other UN-related organizations in Japan to hold a public forum at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo on Friday, 6 March. The forum’s theme drew attention to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s multi-year (2008–2015) campaign “UNite to End Violence against Women”.

In a message read at the forum, Secretary-General Ban warned that the consequences of socially ingrained violence against women “go beyond the visible and immediate. Death, injury, medical costs and lost employment are but the tip of an iceberg. The impact on women and girls, their families, their communities and their societies in terms of shattered lives and livelihoods is beyond calculation. Far too often, crimes go unpunished, and perpetrators walk free.”

In late February, African and Japanese university-based experts in teaching sustainable development met in Tokyo to launch a UNU project on Education for Sustainable Development in Africa.

On 17 February, UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder and Vice-Rectors Parayil and Takeuchi met with the Japanese Minister of the Environment to discuss continued cooperation between the UNU and the Ministry of the Environment.

This UNU Press book explores the evolution within the world’s major religions of attitudes and teachings related to the ethics of war, linking historical roots and interpretations to the challenges of modern warfare.